Summer is never long enough

At least, at this moment, I’m definitely feeling like summer just decided to be shorter than it was when I was a kid. I could have used an extra month. It took half the summer (probably more) to recover from my first year of teaching. When you’re in the actual school year, teaching and grading, you don’t realize that you’re at a high stress level because you never really ever get back to a normal one. I have inservice this week and first day of classes next week. ::enter some image of my screaming ‘Ahhhhhh’::

It’s not that bad, but I do feel overwhelmed. I”m teaching some new classes this year, so in a lot of ways it’s like first year teaching 2.0. I’m definitely more prepared than last year and I like the material more (although I really remember liking The Scarlet Letter a lot more than I do now). I look forward to seeing my students again, meeting the new ones and getting into the routine. the routine that will hopefully make my time management impressive instead of pathetic.

I drove back from Tennessee last Thursday and ran into a major, major storm. Nickel-sized hail decided to leave dimples on the roof of my car. Freaked out my dog and freaked me out too. But with quick storms like that, the clouds after are amazing. I tried to take photos with my phone (yes, while driving. I know, horrible of me). Here’s a few to give you an idea of the sunlight streaking through the dark clouds.

Of course, the photos are nearly as impressive as it was to see with my own eyes. Which is why I really wish i could paint/draw/whatever.

No definitive word on the day that Phase will be available in print. I wait oh so anxiously.